Selected interventions in nuclear medicine: gastrointestinal motor functions

Semin Nucl Med. 2009 May;39(3):186-94. doi: 10.1053/j.semnuclmed.2008.11.002.

Abstract

The measurement of gastrointestinal functions by the use of scintigraphy is established in clinical practice and research. The most commonly used test is the gastric-emptying test, which is acknowledged as the gold standard to measure gastric motility and is conducted according to a consensus statement from the national nuclear medicine and motility societies. Other techniques are somewhat more esoteric (eg, measurement of gastric accommodation with single-photon emission computed tomography) or the scintigraphic approach is not the acknowledged gold standard (eg, colonic transit, rectoanal angle, and emptying, esophageal transit). The performance characteristics of many of the scintigraphic measurements have been published and the pros and cons established in the literature. Pharmacologic interventions may also be used during scintigraphy to aid in diagnosis and treatment. Gastrointestinal scintigraphy is an integral and important component of the assessment of gastrointestinal function.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Gastric Emptying / physiology
  • Gastrointestinal Motility / physiology*
  • Gastrointestinal Tract / diagnostic imaging
  • Gastrointestinal Tract / physiology*
  • Gastrointestinal Transit / physiology
  • Humans
  • Stomach / diagnostic imaging
  • Stomach / physiology*
  • Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon / methods
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed / methods